When Love is Lost

Another Valentine’s Day is here. With over 40% of all relationships ending in divorce or separation instead of falling in love with Valentine’s Day many hearts will have been broken.

The failure of the marriage can be down to many factors – the influence of previous relationships that we have experienced; the relationship of our parents; our own self worth; and a capacity to change.

When a relationship finally hits the rocks it can feel like you will never find a way forward.

Most couples want to put the past behind them and have the divorce or separation dealt with as quickly as possible.

The concept of a quickie divorce owes more to myth than reality. Once you bring children and finances into the process the divorce and separation procedure can become complicated and expensive especially if your divorce becomes uncontrollable.

It is essential to take good specialist legal advice.

Mediation can help speed up the process and allow you to talk through your differences in confidence with an independent neutral professional.

What are the benefits of mediation?

A bitter and resentful divorce or separation can seriously harm children’s mental health. It is an unfortunate fact that one in four children will live through their parents’ divorce before they are 16 years old and approximately 60% of fathers lose contact with their children within three years of divorcing or separating. These factors have consequential affect. The children are less likely to succeed at school and are more likely to suffer from insecurity and anxiety.

As an alternative to the legal process mediation may be appropriate where disputes arise over children and/or finances. It can save time and money.

Mediation is not about getting back together. It is not a substitute for legal advice. It is however the chance to resolve any issues by communicating and making joint decisions rather than having decisions made by a Judge who does not know either of you or your family circumstances.

It can have a tremendous affect on the future for your family. You will be demonstrating to your children that you can work things out together and that you can resolve a dispute in a sensible manner.

As parents you have a responsibility to protect your children as much as possible from the damaging affect of your divorce. Mediation will give you the chance to talk together about the future of your relationship, finances or issues concerning the children. It sets a good foundation for building an amicable relationship for the future.

The Family Law Co. by Hartnell Chanot is the trading name of Hartnell Chanot & Partners Limited, a company registered in England & Wales (Company no. 7204684) authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (reference no.535133).